Supply chain disruptions and port congestion are here to stay. Find out what to expect in Kuehne+Nagel's weekly port operational update.

Port Louis: The area experienced a cyclone last week, leading to berth delays of 2 to 3 days.

Saudi Arabia

Dammam: High wind speeds suspended Marine traffic during the week. Berth delays could reach up to 4 days off-window.

Jeddah: Berth availability at DP World Jeddah Container Terminal is limited as Berths 55 and 56 are not available. This led to an increased 7-day average vessel waiting time, as shown in the table above.

South Africa

Durban: The 7-day average vessel waiting time increased again this week to nearly 8 days. CMA CGM reported significant berthing delays due to equipment and crane challenges.

Australia

Patrick Terminals in Sydney and Brisbane announced the following upcoming closures for maintenance:

• Patrick Port Botany, Sydney - 9 March 2024 from 14:00 to 22:00
• Patrick Fisherman Islands, Brisbane - 12 March 2024 from 07:00 to 23:00

All vessel, road and rail operations will be suspended during these times.  

China

Ningbo: The 7-day average vessel waiting time improved this week, with some delays due to vessel bunching. Berth congestion stabilised in all terminals.

Korea

Busan: Waiting times stretch between 24 to 36 hours at Busan Port due to vessel bunching. In addition, the Lunar New Year cargo rush continues to have an impact, causing high yard utilisation levels.

Singapore

Singapore: According to CMA CGM, yard congestion and vessel bunching are causing 1 to 1.5 days of delay.

Members of the Finnish Transport Workers Union (AKT) will go on a two-week strike starting 11 March, at 06:00 local time, and until 25 March, at 06:00. As a result, operations at all Finnish ports will be suspended. Our Kuehne+Nagel advisory has more details.

Germany

Members of the GDL rail union will go on a new round of strikes this week. Freight rail will be impacted from 6 March, at 18:00 local time, to 8 March, at 5:00. 

Italy

Genoa: Due to civil works in the port area, the port authority declared it will continue to suspend rail services to and from Sech Terminal until 22 March. According to seaexplorer data, today's 7-day average vessel waiting time is one day.

Netherlands

Rotterdam: The port announced that all import containers arriving from Latin America will only be securely and reliably released via the Secure Chain as of 31 March. The port adopted this approach to prevent drug trafficking through the facility.

Furthermore, APM Terminals Maasvlakte II reported that yard density remains high until at least Friday, 8 March. Therefore, empty containers will be accepted for evacuation from Friday at 19:00 for barges and trains and from Saturday at 04:00 for trucks. Empty container delivery before this time will still not be accepted.

Portugal, Spain and Malta witnessed some strong winds last week, causing delays to vessel arrivals and departures. Yard occupancy in Algeciras Port reached 80% in Week 10, and reefer plug availability is tight at peak times.

Vancouver: The average vessel waiting in the port improved this week by nearly 50%. Yard utilisation, however, remains high in Deltaport and Centerem at 97% and 95%, respectively. Inland point intermodal (IPI) average dwell time is 12 days at Deltaport and 9 days at Centerm.

United States

Charleston: Dock construction at Wando Welch terminal started this month, according to Hapag-Lloyd. The construction will reduce the number of berths from 3 to 2 for one year.

Oakland: The 7-day average vessel waiting did not witness much improvement this week. Hapag-Lloyd reported an average wait time of up to 9 days at Oakland Int'l Container Terminal (OICT) and 3 days at TraPac.

Santos: Disruption at the port increased last week with berthing delays of up to 24 hours at the Brazil Terminal Portuário (BTP) Terminal for on-time vessels and up to 5 days for out-of-window vessels.

Costa Rica

Kuehne+Nagel sources report intermodal challenges due to a shortage of drivers in the country. The situation has significantly affected truck availability, causing export and import placement delays. The departure of containers from Puerto Caldera is subject to trucking slots availability.

Haiti

Gang violence in the country prompted the government to impose a state of emergency and a curfew in the West Department as of 4 March. The deteriorating security situation has so far caused transport disruptions.